'The Government in Vilnius did nothing in order to improve the situation of the Polish minority in Lithuania, whose rights are being restricted,' Radosław Sikorski, Polish Foreign Minister, harshly criticised the Government of Lithuania.

Valdemar Tomaševski, the Chairman of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (EAPL) Valdemar Tomaševski, has announced today that he will take part in the presidential elections that will take place in May 2014. Below the statement of the EAPL Governing Council is presented. In their statement the members of the Council support the candidacy of the party leader.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and Energy Minister Jaroslav Neverovič. The Prime Minister briefed the President on the talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller in Sochi and their proposals regarding gas prices for Lithuania.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the leader of AutoMaidan movement, Dmitry Bulatov, who was kidnapped and tortured by unknown persons in Ukraine at the beginning of the year. He now is in Lithuania for medical treatment. The meeting focused on the situation in Ukraine, AutoMaidan initiative and the role of the European Union in settling the conflict in Ukraine. Bulatov thanked the President for Lithuania's support to the injured EuroMaidan participants and for the opportunity to undergo medical treatment in Lithuania.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Erfurt.

MEPs voted to make the recognition of official documents easier in another EU member state during the 3-6 February plenary session, backed rules to punish manipulators of financial markets and urged an EU-wide strategy to combat homophobia and protect the rights of LGBTI people. Addressing the European Parliament, Italian president Giorgio Napolitano warned about the dangers of nationalism. Read on for more highlights of February's first plenary session.

On Thursday, Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius met with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Heydar Oglu Aliyev in Sochi.

Tomorrow, February 7, President Dalia Grybauskaitė will travel to Germany at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The media informed, that Lithuanian intellectuals attacked the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania in the letter addressed to the authorities of Lithuania today. Commenting on the fact of addressing the letter, EAPL leader Valdemar Tomaševski pointed out that there is a lack of reliable arguments in the letter and said that it is based only on unfounded insinuations. The EAPL chairman did not exclude the possibility that the activists of the nationalist organization 'Vilnija' might be the authors of the letter.

On Monday, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has participated in the meeting of the Baltic Prime Ministers of the Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM) in Tallinn, focussing on electronic signatures, joint transport and energy projects, as well as the preparation for the 25th Anniversary of the Baltic Way.